Costa Rica to offset national team's World Cup carbon footprint

San Jose, April 26 (IANS) Costa Rica will offset its national football team's carbon footprint during the 2018 World Cup in Russia by purchasing bonds that help fund an environmental project, officials said.

The initiative is the result of an alliance between Costa Rica's football federation and the country brand "Essential Costa Rica" and is aimed at fostering a culture of environmental sustainability, reports Efe.

Costa Rica's National Forest Financing Fund estimates that the Ticos' national team will generate 286.9 metric tons of carbon emissions during the round-robin phase of football's international showcase event.

To offset that footprint, the national federation and Essential Costa Rica will buy carbon bonds that support the Proyecto Caribe (Caribbean Project), an initiative that protects a 1,250-hectare (4.8-square mile) area of Costa Rican rainforest.

"This action is in line, first of all, with the commitment of 'Essential Costa Rica' to foster a sustainable culture in order to continue to position Costa Rica as a green country," the country brand's president, Pedro Beirute, said in a statement.

This initiative is also part of the commitment of the football federation -- a country brand licensee -- to values such as environmental sustainability and responsibility.

Costa Rica is globally recognised for its environmental policies.

The Central American nation is home to 5 percent of the planet's biodiversity, while national parks and conservation areas make up nearly 30 percent of its territory.

Costa Rica has been drawn into Group E in this summer's World Cup in Russia along with Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia.